CRI听力:Grave Price Hikes

Burial is a Chinese tradition to honor the deceased. But residents tomb sweeping in a cemetery in Beijing Changping District in say that the price for graves has become a burden.

"The grave I bought is nearly 200 thousand yuan. I go to several graveyards, and 200 thousand yuan is a common price. There are more expensive ones elsewhere."

"We can't afford to die. A grave is even more expensive than a house. We are wage earners. What can we do? It's a luxury to have a grave now."

"We have no choice but to accept the high price. My father dies, and I have to buy a place to burry him."

Due to the scarcity of urban graves, the competition has become serious. In Beijing, grave prices have skyrocketed to 15 times their rate in 2003. Around 30 to 40 thousand yuan per square meter is a common price. At the so-called "good locations", some graves even sell as high as hundreds of thousand yuan per square meter. Therefore, many Beijing residents buy graves in Hebei province, because they are near and cheap. Ms. Zhang is one of them. She bought a grave in the Huailai county of Hebei province for her father.

"20 thousand yuan per square meter is acceptable compared to the high prices in Beijing. The lowest in this graveyard is 9 thousand yuan, and the highest price is 40 thousand yuan."

According to the managerial staff at this cemetery, 90% of the graves are bought by Beijing residents, and their sales volume is increasing, with more than one thousand graves sold every year.

At 40 thousand yuan per square meter, a grave for the dead is more expensive than a house for the living. But does the grave belong to you after you spend dozens of thousand yuan on it? The answer is no.

According to related regulations, the clients only have 20 years to use it, not to own it. That is to say, you have to pay another large amount to lease the grave again after it expires.

Professor Wang Zhongwu at Shangdong University says that there are many ways to memorialize loved ones.

"People sweep the tomb to respect and mourn their ancestors. But I think that any way that can express these feelings is okay. For example, some people choose not to keep the ashes or buy a grave. This can also show the respect to the dead."

Professor Wang suggests that people choose environment-friendly ways to memorialize the dead, and he calls for the government departments issue the regulation to curb the unreasonable price hikes for graves.

For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.